IKAR in Mass Media

Russian wheat falls with global benchmarks

MOSCOW, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Russian wheat prices fell last week, tracking lower prices in Chicago and Paris , analysts said on Monday, adding that they were monitoring tensions between Moscow and the West.

Russian stocks and the rouble took a hit last week after the United States said it feared Moscow was readying a pretext to justify an invasion Ukraine should diplomacy fail to meet its objectives.

Russian wheat with 12.5% protein content loading from Black Sea ports for supply in January stood at $328 a tonne free on board (FOB), down $2 from thin trade in early January, the IKAR agriculture consultancy said.

Sovecon, another consultancy, pegged wheat at down $1 at $332 per tonne, with barley down $2 at $295 a tonne. Russia's New Year holiday lasted from Dec. 31 to Jan. 9.

Russian wheat exports are down by 39% since the start of the 2021/22 marketing season on July 1, owing to a smaller crop and an export tax that had been set at $97.5 per tonne for Jan. 19-25.

This winter has been very friendly for the 2022 crop so far, with healthy precipitation in most of Russia's winter wheat-producing regions and warm weather, Sovecon said.

Other Russian data provided by Sovecon and IKAR:

Product:	Price at the end of last week:	Change from week earlier
- Domestic 3rd class wheat, European part of Russia, excludes delivery (Sovecon)	15,075 roubles/t ($198.81)	+200 rbls
- Sunflower seeds (Sovecon)	35,375 rbls/t	+475 rbls
- Domestic sunflower oil (Sovecon)	86,000 rbls/t	+650 rbls
- export sunflower oil (Sovecon)	$1,350/t	+$35
- export sunflower oil (*IKAR*)	$1,345/t	+$35
- soybeans (Sovecon)	43,700 rbls/t	+400 rbls
- white sugar, Russia's south (*IKAR*)	$669.2/t	+$10.65